Richard Appel was looking for new locales to put Bart and thought it would be funny to have him work at a burlesque house. The problem was to find a way to put such a house in Springfield, which was solved with the bit with the toy airplane.
Reverend Lovejoy's line, "This house is a very, very, very fine house", is a reference to the Crosby Stills & Nash song "Our House".
The oil spill is a reference to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The Sea Captain was shown to be drunk at the helm, which is a reference to Joseph Hazelwood, who was the captain of the Exxon Valdez and was accused of being drunk.
Mayor Quimby and the Quimby family, throughout Simpsons history, have been made to resemble JFK and the Kennedy family. In this particular episode, Mayor Quimby's wife is seen wearing a dress similar to one of Jacqueline Kennedy's dresses.
The couch gag is a reference to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".